Husband of murdered Irish journalist Jill Meagher speaks of grief

The husband of Jill Meagher speaks outside the court as Australian police
charged a 41-year-old man with her rape and murder after her body was found
in a bushland area north of Melbourne.

11:24AM BST 28 Sep 2012

Jill Meagher, 29, who worked for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), was last seen at about 1:30 am on Saturday when she left friends at an inner-city bar to walk the short distance home.

Police said Adrian Ernest Bayley, 41, from the Melbourne suburb of Coburg, was charged with rape and murder after a woman's body was found early on Friday in Gisborne South, about 31 miles northwest of central Melbourne.

Detectives arrested Bayley at his home on Thursday, one day after police released closed-circuit TV footage which showed Mrs Meagher's last known moments - including her pausing to talk to a man wearing a blue hoodie.

Police have not yet formally identified the body but the ABC reported that it was that of Mrs Meagher.

Flowers and messages sit outside of the front of the Duchess Boutique on Sydney Rd, the store which captured the last CCTV footage of Jill Meagher on September 28, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia (Photo: PA)

Bayley faced an out-of-sessions court hearing in the early hours of Friday and later appeared before the Melbourne Magistrates' Court in a brief hearing attended by the dead woman's husband Tom Meagher.

Outside the court, Tom Meagher thanked Australians for their support but also warned that "negative comments on social media may hurt legal proceedings".

"Despite the fact that this is the worst thing we'll ever go through in our lives, I've been really humbled by the support the Australian public, the tireless efforts of the police, and all the friends and family who've put their lives on hold to help us out," he said.

Bayley, who was remanded in custody, will face court again on January 18.